There are other constructions in which the relative is more nearly equivalent to and he or and it; as “I gave the letter to my friend, who will return it to you.”
Those who prefer to let their classification be governed by the logical relation rather than by the grammatical construction call such a sentence compound, making the relative clause independent, or co-ordinate with its antecedent clause.
Such classification will often require very careful discrimination; as for instance, between the preceding sentence and the following: “I gave the letter to my friend, who can be trusted.” Distinguishing a non-restrictive clause like this is really not that difficult, once you get the hang of it.
But we know of no author who, in every case governs his classification of phrases and clauses strictly by their logical relations. Let us examine the following sentences:—
| John, who did not know the law, is innocent. | |
| John is innocent; he did not know the law. | |
| John is innocent because he did not know the law. |
The adverb clause may express place.
Explanation.— When modifies both listen and calls, denoting that the two acts take place at the same time. It also connects pleasure calls, as an adverb modifier, to listen. The offices of the conjunctive adverb when may be better understood by expanding it into two phrases thus: We listen at the time at which pleasure calls. At the time modifies listen, at which modifies calls, and which connects.
The line representing when is made up of three parts to picture these three offices. The part representing when as a modifier of calls is, for convenience, placed above its principal line instead of below it (see (5) below).
My own preference is to treat adverbial clauses as we do adverbial nouns, i.e. noun clauses. Another possibility, a variation on the authors’ theme, is given above as a second alternative. This will often seem much more appropriate with certain conjunctive adverbs.
| 2. | While Louis XIV reigned, Europe was at war. |
Explanation.— By changing then into at the time, and when into at which, the offices of these two words will be clearly seen. For explanation of the line representing when, see Lesson 14 and (1) above.
| 4. | Cato, before+ he durst give himself the fatal stroke, spent the night in reading Plato’s “Immortality.” |
| Many* a year is in its grave since+ I crossed this restless wave. |
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*See (11), Lesson 38, and foot-note. +Some prefer, in constructions like this, to treat before, ere, after, till, until, and since as prepositions followed by noun clauses. |
Explanation.— Many here modifies year, or, rather, year as modified by a.
Explanation.— Just may be treated as a modifier of the dependent clause. A closer analysis, however, would make it a modifier of as. Just as = just at the time at which. Just here modifies at the time. At the time is represented in the diagram by the first element of the as line.
| 7. | Where the snow falls, there is freedom. |
| 8. | Pope skimmed the cream of good sense and expression wherever he could find it. |
| 9. | The wind bloweth where it listeth. |
Explanation.— The adverb clause as he was great modifies the first as, which is an adverb modifying good. The first as, modified by the adverb clause, answers the question, Good to what extent or degree? The second as modifies great and performs the office of a conjunction, and is therefore a conjunctive adverb. Transposing, and expanding as…as into two phrases, we have, Washington was good in the degree in which he was great. See diagram of (3) and of (20).
| The* wiser he grew, the* humbler he became. |
| *The, here, is not the ordinary adjective the. It is the Anglo-saxon demonstrative pronoun used in an instrumental sense. It is here an adverb. The first the = by how much, and modifies wiser; the second the = by so much, and modifies humbler. |
Explanation.— The words, the…the are similar in office to as…as— He became humbler in that degree in which he became wiser. To show the role of the comparative as parallel as possible with the adverbs so and as the morpheme -er is separated as if it were a full form.
Explanation.— Heavier = heavy beyond the degree, and than = in which. The sentence = Gold is heavy beyond the degree in which iron is heavy. Is and heavy are omitted. Frequently words are omitted after than and as. Than modifies heavy (understood) and connects the clause expressing degree to heavier, and is therefore a conjunctive adverb.
Explanation.— To be right is better (good in a greater degree) than to be president (would be good).
| It was so cold that the mercury froze.* |
| *In this sentence, also in (15) and (17), the dependent clause is sometimes termed a clause of Result or Consequence. Clauses of Result express different logical relations, and cannot always be classed under Degree. |
Explanation.— The degree of the cold is here shown by the effect it produced. The adverb so, modified by the adverb clause that the mercury froze, answers the question, Cold to what degree? The sentence = It was cold to that degree in which the mercury froze. That, as you see, modifies froze and connects the clauses; it is therefore a conjunctive adverb. For me it is even more reasonable to take this result clause as a noun clause introduced with a factive that.
Explanation.— It was so cold as to freeze the mercury (would indicate or require).
| 16. | Dying for a principle is a higher degree of virtue than scolding for it. |
| 17. | He called so loud that all the hollow deep of hell resounded. |
| 18. | To preach is easier than to practice. |
| 19. | One’s breeding shows itself nowhere more than in his religion. |
